Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Access Financial Services, in a bid to provide a direct link to financing solutions for JBDC clients.
Hugh Campbell, CEO of Access Financial Services, said the agreement will provide loans for various purposes, along with tailored financial advice.
"More than 425,000 micro, small and medium enterprise operators that fuel the engine of our economy, contributing billions in taxes yearly. Yet despite their contributions to the foreign economy, through taxes, employment and a ripple effect across society, they remain largely underserved by traditional providers. Our friends at JBDC know all too well the issues that entrepreneurs face in developing and growing their business: limited options for affordable financing, not enough export guidance and know-how to sustain their businesses, determining the right route to market, and I could go on and on."
The partnership will also see the provision of capacity building, marketing and other support services available through the JBDC for businesses.
CEO of the JBDC Valerie Veira, says the organisation hopes to also better equip Access Financial, to understand the MSME sector:
"We will be providing some sensitisation to the team at Access. That's our commitment. And we will continue to provide support on the other side in preparing clients that might go directly to Access but need to be prepared for the relationship. So we are married. You know how it is with marriage counselling? We're going to be always there. So if the marriage get a little shaky, we'll come back in and do some more counselling. That is the role that a JBDC does," she said.
But Ms. Viera admitted that more work must be done to understand the evolving nature of micro, small and medium sized enterprises.
She said the JBDC is doing work to share this kind of data, which could help fill some of the financing gaps for these kinds of businesses.
"Despite us thinking MSME is well-known, eveything about them is well-known in Jamaica, the reality is that it is evolving. There are new industries, like the creative industries [that] are sort of coming into their own and there are other such industries, and we have to be the broker to interpret some of their needs and share that with the other side of the equation."
Ms. Viera and Mr. Campbell were both speaking at the MOU signing on Wednesday.
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